psychological suspense

On the Shelf: February 2023 reads

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In February 2023 I read:

  • The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker
  • Talk to me about when we were perfect by Amanda Huggins (poetry collection)
  • The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
  • The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty
  • Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
  • The Girl Upstairs by Georgina Lees
  • Playing for Love by Jeevani Charika 
  • It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover (re-read)

I was lucky enough to be sent a proof copy of Amanda Huggins’ new poetry collection.

talk to me about when we were perfect is a stunning collection which transports the reader from Yorkshire, London and further afield to Japan.

I particularly enjoyed the nostalgic poems in which Huggins takes us back to her teenage years, encapsulating the awkwardness of meeting boys, making plans for the future, sporting the latest fashion trends, and the flush of first love.

The Talented Mr Ripley is a classic for crime fiction fans and it’s not hard to see why. Tom Ripley is such an intriguing character. It’s incredible how Highsmith can have your rooting for him all the way through the book, even though he is very much the villain. It also made me really want to go to the Italian Riviera!

My favourite book of the month had to be Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. It’s an incredible book exploring the stories of different women and their experiences of race, gender and sexuality in contemporary Britain. There are no full stops in the book which creates a fluid style that absolutely works for the stories the author is telling. I loved it and would highly recommend it.

I don’t read many love stories, but I make an exception for a few favourite authors, and Jeevani Charika is one of them. I loved the premise of Playing for Love – two people who know each other online and offline but don’t know about each other’s alter egos. The love story is told from both Samadhi and Luke’s perspectives and I enjoyed all the near misses as the relationship between the two protagonists developed. The way the game they were playing brought out their personalities was deftly done and I liked the poignancy of how Samadhi’s business venture was inspired by her mother.

Book Birthday!

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Today (11 February 2023) marks a year since the publication of my second novel, The Wedding Murders.

In that time, it’s had two different covers!

I must admit I prefer the original cover although the second perhaps reflects the book more accurately. (It’s not that blood thirsty!)

The Wedding Murders is set at a celebrity wedding in a grand manor house in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside.

Libby is the plus-one of her boyfriend Matthew a former drummer in a 90s band. It’s the first time the group has got together since their acrimonious split, and she soon learns that they all have secrets to hide…

The Wedding Murders was published by One More Chapter, the digital imprint of HarperCollins, in February 2022.

One of the highlights of the past year was getting an amazing endorsement from crime writer Sophie Hannah. She said:

“This gripping murder mystery will keep you riveted from start to end.

“The Wedding Murders has all the traditional satisfactions of a golden age puzzle plot, while at the same time demonstrating a wholly contemporary sensibility.

“Fans of Lucy Foley and Agatha Christie will love it.”

You can buy The Wedding Murders here:

Amazon UK: The Wedding Murders

Amazon US: The Wedding Murders

On the Shelf: January 2023 reads

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In January 2023 I read:

  • The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton (re-read)
  • The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton
  • Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury (non-fiction)
  • Shiver by Allie Reynolds
  • Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
  • The Recovery of Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel
  • The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (re-read)
  • In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan
  • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Jessie Burton is one of my favourite writers and The Miniaturist was a re-read. I wanted to immerse myself in the world of 18th century Amsterdam again before I read the sequel, The House of Fortune. You could, perhaps, read the second as a stand alone but I thought it was better in sequence. Jessie Burton’s prose is superb and she has the ability to transport you anywhere and to any time. I loved the main character and all the historical detail in The House of Fortune, but I preferred The Miniaturist overall.

If you enjoy fast-paced psychological thrillers, I wholeheartedly recommend Shiver by Allie Reynolds and In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan. I thought both of them were excellent. They had all the elements you look for in crime fiction – a great plot, brilliant characters, a fast paced story and a satisfying ending, but each had an extra element which made them stand out for me.

Allie Reynolds’ book is set in the world of competitive snowboarding which I thought was really interesting and raised the stakes for her characters, while Jo Callaghan teams up an experienced human detective with an AI detective which was something I had never come across before and produced lots of great conflict and a touch of comedy.

Zen in the Art of Writing is a very inspiring book to read if you want to write and I also really enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s book about Norse Mythology.

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz was another re-read. This time I am reading it for a book group, so I am keen to find out what other people think about it. It raises lots of interesting questions about writing and stories, and the main character is someone you love to hate. This time around I knew the ending, so it was fun to spot the clues I had missed the first time. I also enjoyed The Recovery of Rose Gold and the way Wrobel alternated between the daughter and the mother’s points of view.  

This is the first time I have read Brave New World. The style is quite different from contemporary fiction, so it took a little while to get into, but I enjoyed the moral dilemmas it raised and the acute observations about society, many of which are still relevant today.

On the Shelf: December 2022 reads

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In December 2022 I read:

  • The List by Carys Jones
  • The Festival by Sarah J Naughton
  • Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
  • Silent Victim by Caroline Mitchell
  • Stay Close by Harlan Coben
  • As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson
  • Dead Man’s Footsteps by Peter James

The List and The Festival were both great psychological thrillers – fast paced with interesting characters. I particularly liked the setting of a music festival which made for lots of chaos and confusion. The tension between the reunited friends was also very realistic.

Good Girl, Bad Blood and As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson are the second and third books in the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy and I enjoyed them both. I would definitely read more of Holly Jackson’s novels. I particularly liked the main character in this trilogy and her feisty attitude!

My favourite books of 2022

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I read 96 books in 2022.

My favourite books (in the order I read them) were:

  • Call of the Penguins by Hazel Prior
  • The Dying Day by Vaseem Khan (The Malabar House Mysteries #2)
  • Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka
  • The Burning Girls by C J Tudor
  • Sea Defences by Hilary Taylor
  • Magpie by Elizabeth Day
  • A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
  • Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain
  • The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune
  • The Foundling by Stacey Halls
  • It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
  • The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

On the Shelf: November 2022 reads

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In November 2022, I read:

  • The Foundling by Stacey Halls
  • You Don’t Know Me by Imran Mahmood
  • Hide by Nell Pattison
  • It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
  • Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough
  • Letters to my Daughter’s Killer by Cath Staincliffe
  • The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar
  • Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham
  • Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker (non-fiction, research)

Two of my favourite books this month were historical fiction: The Foundling by Stacey Halls and The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar. In both cases, it was the characters that really drew me into these stories as much as the setting.

You Don’t Know Me was adapted into a TV series which I watched earlier in the year, so I already knew the plot. It’s a very powerful book exploring racism and the criminal justice system.

I read It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover in one sitting! I literally could not put this down. I really wanted to read Colleen Hoover’s books because they are so popular, and I can see why. Again, it’s the main character that absolutely hooks you in. At first, I thought this was going to be a standard romance but then things take a darker turn, and you just have to keep reading to find out what happens next.

Letters to my Daughter’s Killer was a re-read. This book had a profound effect on me when I first read it. It’s a very moving story about grief, anger and forgiveness.

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker was research for my next book. This is a fascinating insight into why and how we sleep and the impact it has on our physical and mental health. It’s also very accessible and easy to read if, like me, you’re not much of a scientist.

On the Shelf: October 2022 reads

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I was on holiday in October, so I had plenty of time to read!

In October, I read the following books:

  • In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
  • The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune
  • The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris (Chocolat #2)
  • The Club by Ellery Lloyd
  • The Last to Disappear by Jo Spain
  • The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh
  • No Country for Girls by Emma Styles
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Raymond Bradbury
  • Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
  • On the Road by Jack Kerouac
  • Reputation by Sarah Vaughan
  • Walden by Henry David Thoreau

The stand-out title for me was definitely The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune. My cousin recommended this fantasy title, and it blew me away. It reads like a children’s book but has some strong adult themes and I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like it. Definitely one I intend to read again, maybe tucked up under a blanket on Boxing Day. It’s a feel-good read for when real life gets a bit too much!

The Club, The Last to Disappear and The Last Party were all thrillers set in exclusive resorts. As such, there were a few similarities between the books. They’re all good suspense thrillers and I particularly enjoyed the setting of The Last to Disappear, which is set in Lapland.

No Country for Girls was billed as the Australian ‘Thelma and Louise’ and has two great teenaged characters on the run. I also really liked the setting of this book, the Australian outback.

Fahrenheit 451 was another recommendation from my cousin, and I loved it. It felt very dark and prophetic, and I couldn’t help wondering what Raymond Bradbury would think about social media. It was a bit depressing, but one of those books that stay with you long after you finish reading it.

Another author who might have something to say about social media would be Henry David Thoreau who writes about his time in isolation at Walden Pond. I really enjoyed this account of his attempt to live a simple life, away from society, and there were some real take-aways from the book, not least the benefits of vegetarianism and living a life more attuned to nature. Again, I think this may be a book I will come back to.  

On the shelf: September 2022 reads

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I read mostly crime fiction in September 2022. I read:

  • The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths
  • The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid
  • A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
  • The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah
  • Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
  • Hope to Die by Cara Hunter
  • Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain
  • Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

My two favourite reads were A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson and Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is a YA book about a grade A student, Pippa, who is investigating a murder in her hometown for her A-level project. The murder is very close to heart as the victim, Andie, and the alleged killer, Sal, were both students at Pippa’s school. With the help of Sal’s brother, she sets out to prove that Sal was innocent, but they quickly find themselves in danger.

The book is told in narrative and in diary logs, which is quite fitting for the story. I thought it was a really clever and original take on the crime thriller genre and I look forward to reading the other two books in the series.

I loved Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain. A woman is found dead in her home after three months casting suspicion on all the neighbours of a gated community. The detectives soon find that every household had a reason to want to silence the victim, who has made it her business to uncover everyone’s secrets. It kept me guessing until the end and I loved the resolution.

The Grave Tattoo was also a really good book as it was all about Wordsworth and I really enjoyed the combination of a contemporary thriller with a literary mystery. It was a very unusual book, and I loved the Lake District setting which is a place I know well.

Crying in H Mart is a very moving memoir of the author’s relationship with her mother and her connection to her Korean heritage. It is a book full of food which made me want to try more Korean dishes.  

On the shelf: August 2022 reads

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I binge read my way through August with a total of 14 books! I read:

  • The Idea of You by Robinne Lee
  • The Truth about Lisa Jewell by Will Brooker
  • A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins
  • The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
  • An Unfamiliar Landscape by Amanda Huggins (short story collection – proof)
  • The Drift by C J Tudor (proof)
  • Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas
  • What I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
  • The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
  • Both of You by Adele Parks
  • Magpie by Elizabeth Day
  • The Secrets of the Storm Forest: The Strangeworlds Travel Agency #3 by L D Lapinski
  • Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
  • The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary

The Idea of You was a Richard and Judy pick and a fun read. It’s a romance between a woman in her late 30s and a member of a boyband with all the trials and tribulations of a relationship under the spotlight.

The Truth about Lisa Jewell is a non-fiction book charting a year in the life of bestselling author, Lisa Jewell. I enjoyed the insight into her writing process and her moments of doubt and triumph. This book would particularly appeal to writers.

The Mermaid of Black Conch was a beautifully written story which stayed with me long after I finished it. I enjoyed the different voices in this book and the way it explores themes of misogyny and colonialism through a traditional mermaid tale.

An Unfamiliar Landscape was a review copy of Amanda Huggins’ latest collection of short stories. Huggins’ atmospheric and evocative prose has the power to transport you to places all over the globe while tunnelling deep into your soul. The tiniest details make the greatest impact as Huggins explores grief, relationships and self-discovery. A masterclass in short form fiction.

C J Tudor is one of my favourite writers so I practically mugged her at Harrogate Crime Writing Festival for a proof of her latest novel, The Drift, which will be out in January 2023. This is quite a departure for C J Tudor in terms of genre but has the same page-turning element of her other books, with a clever twist.

Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas was recommended to me by author Abby Davies, and I thought it was absolutely brilliant. I have also bought the workbook that goes with it and am making my way through it. Maas dissects every aspect of what makes a novel become a bestseller and encourages you to dedicate yourself to improving your own writing. Following all the advice in this book will be hard work, but I think it will be worth it! Definitely one I will be rereading many times.

Magpie by Elizabeth Day was one of the best books I read this month. It’s very well written and very dark. I loved the twist and the conclusion. It was a very accomplished thriller, and I am looking forward to reading her other books.

I’m really pleased that I have read Half of a Yellow Sun because I didn’t know much about the civil war in Nigeria in the 1960s. It was a very distressing read at times and I struggled with it for that reason, but I was glad I persevered. I loved the characters who will stay with me for a very long time.

After that I needed a lighter read, and I really enjoyed The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary. Imagine spending a long car journey to a wedding with your ex! That’s the situation Addie and Dylan find themselves in this romantic comedy.